TechnoLawyer

Originally published on October 19, 2009 in our free SmallLaw newsletter.

The iPhone, BlackBerry, Palm Pre, and other smartphones have conquered the legal world. Originally embraced by salespeople, adoption among lawyers has skyrocketed in recent years. In fact, the iPhone has emerged as the new attorney status symbol — even though it's not really targeted at the enterprise market. (Some iPhone-toting lawyers I know don't even know how to use their iPhone for email.) Given this smartphone ubiquity, I knew it was time to get rid of mine. Yes, you read that right.

I deactivated my well-used BlackBerry 8703e, and "upgraded" my Verizon data plan to a MiFi 2200, officially called the "MiFi 2200 Intelligent Mobile Hotspot." Developed by Novatel, the MiFi 2200 is about the size of a credit card though thicker. It provides simultaneous Internet access to five computers — without having to be plugged into any of them. Your computer (invariably a notebook or a netbook) connects to the MiFi 2200 using WiFi (802.11g or 802.11n) over Verizon's cellular network (Sprint also offers the MiFi).

The technical specifications and reviews of the MiFi 2200 are well chronicled elsewhere. From a small firm perspective, how does the MiFi facilitate our work, as compared to other alternatives?

A Small Firm Lawyer's Perspective on the MiFi

I am no longer instantly accessible to everyone who sends me an email. This is a good thing. In the past, I checked my email on the BlackBerry all the time, even when I was (Shock! Horrors!) sitting in a courtroom. But I could almost never provide a complete response, because I invariably needed information that the BlackBerry could not access. The BlackBerry would only add items to my "to do" list, not remove them.

Now, I tote my notebook computer almost everywhere during the business day, and when I sit down wherever I might be, fire up the notebook, I have everything available, courtesy of our shared Exchange account (Outlook) and a LogMeIn Hamachi VPN or LogMeIn Pro remote access (for documents and everything else). Moreover, everything coming in or going out of my office winds up in a PDF file, so I don't even need to carry physical files.

The connection speed is slower than your wired network, and even slower than an office wireless network or other WiFi hotspots (many courthouses in New Jersey have public WiFi), but the 3G (third generation) cellular access is faster than you may think. Take care of any heavy downloading when connected to a "real" network.

A USB modem, PC Card or netbook or notebook with an embedded cellular modem offers the same functionality, but the MiFi 2200 is more convenient since you can share it among multiple computers just like a wireless router, and because you can start it and slip it in your pocket or briefcase rather than inserting it in your notebook computer every time. It's also helpful if you own a WiFi-equipped PDA such as Apple's iPod touch, or even if you own a WiFi-equipped smartphone and find yourself in a location where Verizon (or Sprint) offers better service.

The Cost and Other Factors

The monthly cost for the 5 GB data plan (a lot of data as long as you are not watching videos) is approximately $60 right now. The MiFi 2200 with a contract costs approximately $100. While the plan costs a little bit more than the data-only plan for my BlackBerry, I no longer pay the $10 monthly fee for the BlackBerry Enterprise Server (BES) charged by my shared Exchange provider, so the price is a wash. Sprint's pricing is similar.

I don't have clients or partners who require a 30-second response time. With the MiFi 2200, my laptop, and our firm's VPN, remote terminal access, and shared Exchange system, I can check in evenings and weekends, at home or any other place. During business hours, I am never more than three hours away from being able to check my email even if I am in court all day.

If I can make a cellular phone call, I can use the MiFi 2200. For, me, and I suspect for many small firm lawyers, this setup provides an alternative that no smartphone — not even the iPhone — can touch.

Written by Edward Zohn of Zohn & Zohn, LLP.

How to Receive SmallLaw
Small firm, big dreams. Published first via email newsletter and later here on our blog, SmallLaw provides you with a mix of practical advice that you can use today, and insight about what it will take for small law firms like yours to thrive in the future. The SmallLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Coming today to Fat Friday: Paul Easton explains why he has come to the end of the road with his Palm Treo and which smartphone path he plans to take next, Charles Steinberg reviews Time Matters' email management capabilities (plus LexisNexis responds), Sharon Taylor explains how she solved a printer driver conflict, John Starkweather provides a tip for SaaS vendors about customer security concerns, and Wesley Haire reviews Timeslips on a 64-bit version of Windows. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive Fat Friday
Our most serendipitous offering, Fat Friday consists of unsolicited contributions by TechnoLawyer members. You'll no doubt enjoy it because of its mix of interesting topics and genuinely useful knowledge, including brutally honest product reviews and informative how-tos. The Fat Friday newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Coming today to Answers to Questions: Susan Berry at Wolters Kluwer Law & Business responds to recent Posts about Loislaw for online legal research, Sherry Wiley explains how she got a Vista PC to work on her home and office networks, Caren Schwartz reviews MyFax, Randy Gold explains how to burn iTunes files to an MP3 CD, and Stephen Seldin explains how to transform a scanned document into editable word processing file. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive Answers to Questions
Do you believe in the wisdom of crowds? In Answers to Questions, TechnoLawyer members answer legal technology and practice management questions submitted by their peers. This newsletter's popularity stems from the relevance of the questions and answers to virtually everyone in the legal profession. The Answers to Questions newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Today's issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire covers an expert witness research service (see article below), an operating system with improved search technology, a smartphone with a video camera, a notebook computer with seven hours of battery life, and a desk designed to burn calories while you work. Don't miss the next issue.

The Next Best Thing to Reading an Expert Witness' Mind

If you practiced law on TV, you would conduct your expert witness research in gumshoe fashion. Scene 1 places you in a deserted back alley receiving a dossier from an informant. In scene 2, your friend and former CIA technician writes a program that searches where Google can't. It sure makes for compelling TV, but let's face it — your clients can't afford that kind of lawyering. You need a more streamlined solution since you live in the real world, not a dream world.

LexisNexis Full-Service Expert Witness Search — in One Sentence
LexisNexis Full-Service Expert Witness Search is a service that creates comprehensive expert witness reports to help you with your case strategy.

The Killer Feature
Most of the world's information still resides in private databases. Last year, LexisNexis acquired one such database — IDEX — and then combined it with many of its own databases. The result — more than one million expert witness records with an additional 3,500 records added each month.

While you can search this material on your own at Lexis.com, the LexisNexis Full-Service Expert Witness Search offers you the option of outsourcing your search if you don't have the time. This service provides you with a number of useful reports, including the popular Testimonial History Report.

This report includes the expert's contact information, a summary of the cases in which the expert testified, and contact information of the lawyers who previously hired the expert. For each case, the report provides the claims, subject matter of the expert's testimony, and verdict, including the amount awarded if available. The Testimonial History Report costs $140.

"An independent market study found that 100% of interviewed users were Very Satisfied or Satisfied with the service they received," marketing manager Jessica Carter told us.

Other Notable Features
LexisNexis Full-Service Expert Witness Search offers a number of other services. For example, you can obtain the expert's testimony in court and at depositions, as well as previous curriculum vitae and other documentation. If a transcript does not reside in the IDEX database, LexisNexis can retrieve it for you.

You can also order articles by or about the expert. If a court has barred an expert from testifying as a result of a "gatekeeping" defense such as Daubert, LexisNexis will let you know. Other reports list disciplinary action taken against the expert.

Thanks to LexisNexis' "unique expert identifier" system, you need not worry about your report containing information about a different expert with the same name as the expert in which you have an interest.

What Else Should You Know?
You can order a report by telephone or on the Web. LexisNexis does not endorse any of the experts in its database. Instead, it simply provides data and lets you render an opinion. The service takes about 2-3 days. Learn more about LexisNexis Full-Service Expert Witness Search.

How to Receive TechnoLawyer NewsWire
So many products, so little time. In each issue of TechnoLawyer NewsWire, you'll learn about five new products for the legal profession. Pressed for time? The "In One Sentence" section describes each product in one sentence, and the "Killer Feature" section describes each product's most compelling feature. The TechnoLawyer NewsWire newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Coming today to TechnoFeature: In a perfect world, it wouldn't matter if a law firm used a Mac or a PC because all software would run on both. Clarity Legal Software offers such a world for deposition transcript management thanks to DepoSmart, which runs on Mac, Windows, and even Linux. We tapped veteran litigator Jeffrey Allen to evaluate DepoSmart. In this TechnoFeature, Jeffrey reviews DepoSmart's functionality and technical support, and also discusses its pricing and license. If you need to annotate and manage deposition testimony (including video), read Jeffrey's helpful review.

How to Receive TechnoFeature
Our flagship newsletter never disappoints thanks to its in-depth reporting by leading legal technology and practice management experts, many of whom have become "household names" in the legal profession. It's in TechnoFeature that you'll find our oft-quoted formal product reviews and accompanying TechnoScore ratings. The TechnoFeature newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Coming today to BlawgWorld: Our editorial team has selected and linked to 53 articles from the past week worthy of your attention, including our Post of the Week. Here's a sample:

How Lawyers Will Use Google Wave

How to View an Upside Down PDF on the iPhone

Reduced Hours, Full Success: Part Time Partners (PDF)

Why Law Firm Blogs Fail as Legal Marketing Tools

This issue also contains links to every article in the October 2009 issue of Law Practice Today. Don't miss this issue or future issues.

How to Receive BlawgWorld
Our newsletters provide the most comprehensive coverage of legal technology, practice management, and law firm marketing, but not the only coverage. To stay on top of all the noteworthy articles published in blogs and other online publications you could either hire a research assistant or simply subscribe to BlawgWorld. The BlawgWorld newsletter has received rave reviews and is free. Please subscribe now.

Watch the Video

TechnoScore: 5.0
1 = Lowest Possible Score; 5 = Highest Possible Score

Today's video review is not about a lawyer video. Rather, it's about a guy who built a business creating newsletters for people to keep in touch with their customers and clients. Jim Palmer calls himself the "Newsletter Guru." He clearly "gets" why it's so crucial to keep in touch with your clients and customers on a regular frequent basis.

In this video we see Jim paddling his canoe on a lake near his home. He is wearing sunglasses, and the camera is sitting in the canoe pointed upwards. As Jim talks, you hear the oar making contact with the water. Jim tells a story about finding a painting he wanted to purchase and the business owner refusing to ship it to his home. The point of the video is to show that the business owner lost a key opportunity to make an easy sell by creating a roadblock.

I like this video for a number of reasons. First, it's different. Here's a guy in the middle of a relaxing activity telling a story that is educational from a marketing standpoint. He's paddling a canoe on a big open lake. There's no hazard of him getting into an accident, like in a moving car, except for falling overboard and destroying his expensive camera.

Second, his video is easy to listen to. What do I mean? It's as if you're sitting in the canoe with him and he's giving you some important advice that will help you in your business. There is no stuffiness or pretentiousness about his story or the manner in which he's trying to tell us about it.

Third, the information is useful to any business owner, lawyers included, about roadblocks that they put up preventing a client or colleague from having easy interactions with them.

As an attorney, what can you learn from this video? A lot.

Tip #1: Use Different Locations When Shooting Your Videos

You don't have to sit behind your desk in a stuffy lawyer's office to create an educational message. The goal when creating attorney video is to stand out. If your video is not remarkable, people will ignore it.

In your next video, try a less formal approach. Perhaps even take off your jacket and tie. Online viewers may have a perception of what an attorney should look like. Sometimes, changing a viewer's perception may give them another reason to watch your video to its conclusion and then call you for more information.

Tip #2: Tell a Story

People love to hear stories. If your story is similar to a viewers' story they will relate to you much more than if you tell them what type of law you practice. Think about when you come home from work and your friend or loved one asks you what happened that day. If something interesting happened, you begin to tell your story. Stories have a beginning, a middle and an end. Many stories have tension and conflict within them. Your story should have all of those points and should also explain how you helped resolve that conflict.

Tip #3: Do Not Sell Anything

The easiest way to turn off a viewer looking for legal information is to sound like a salesman. Don't even think about sounding like a TV commercial. Don't sell a viewer anything because they don't trust you yet.

Instead, establish trust by showing that you have useful knowledge and you are willing to share it freely. Give away some information so prospects can call you for more information. Your goal is to sell through education — the classic soft sell. If you employ this method, your videos and response to your videos will improve.

Till next time, see you on video!

The Back Bench

Certified Family Law Specialist and online video producer Kelly Chang Rickert says: "This video is about roadblocks to business. The irony kills me! Enough said."

Lawyer, journalist, and legal media consultant Robert Ambrogi says: "Not sure why we're covering this guy if he's not a lawyer. That said, his message about roadblocks in business is an important one for lawyers to hear, but I find his delivery a roadblock to listening. Four minutes of watching him paddle and tell a story that he could have delivered in about 30 seconds made me want to tip his kayak."

TechnoLawyer publisher and online video producer Neil Squillante says: "This video reminds me of those business books that originate as articles in magazines like Harvard Business Review. In book form, they fail to use the extra space to offer any new insights, essentially wasting your time. I'm sure a video exists somewhere that offers the same lesson in a fraction of the time."

About YouLaw
YouTube offers law firms a free advertising platform with tens of millions of potential clients. But a poor video can hurt more than help. In this column, lawyer and online video expert Gerry Oginski reviews and rates the latest law firm videos. A panel of fellow experts (The Back Bench) add to Gerry's reviews with pithy remarks. We link to each new YouLaw column and all other noteworthy law firm marketing articles in our weekly BlawgWorld newsletter, which is free. Please subscribe now.

About Gerry Oginski
New York trial lawyer Gerry Oginski has created more than 150 informational online videos for his medical malpractice and personal injury practice. Realizing that most video producers don't have a deep understanding of the practice of law and what potential clients look for, Gerry launched The Lawyers' Video Studio, which provides free tutorials and video production services. If you need help producing a video, please contact Gerry now.

Contact Gerry:
T: (516) 487-8207
E: lawmed10@yahoo.com

Originally published on October 12, 2009 in our free SmallLaw newsletter.

My editor at TechnoLawyer suggested I write a SmallLaw column with a positive "Yes We Can" theme. Let's see:

With the economy in the toilet and legal jobs nonexistent, is it any wonder that a growing number of unemployed lawyers have lost hope? More than ever, the promise of a fulfilling legal career seems remote.

Even talented lawyers find themselves scouring help wanted ads, trolling bar association meetings, or feigning interest in one another's lives on Facebook just to make contacts.

But thanks to the rising number of not-for-profit companies now there is hope. Thoughtful lawyers are taking advantage of prolonged periods of unemployment to reassess their goals and consider work that offers not just sustenance but inspiration. These giving individuals are willing to volunteer their time or take low-paying positions for the good of the community.

There's just one problem — large firm partners pushed out of their firms with a golden parachute are lobbying for prime non-profit jobs and getting them as a stepping stone to their next position or a show of social conscience. As a result, associates and solos are out of luck, just like before the recession.

Okay, That Didn't Turn Out as Inspirational as I Had Hoped

Let's try a different approach:

Many recent graduates, unemployed associates, and displaced mid-level lawyers, are concerned about what they read in the press. But there's no need to worry. The legal job market is simply experiencing a long-overdue correction. Once the excesses of the last decade work themselves out, legal hiring practices will return to normal and America's law firms will be healthier than ever.

For example, since late 1990s, salaries at AmLaw 100 firms have spiraled out of control. During the same period, corporate America has grappled with two recessions, a fiscal crisis, relentless outsourcing, and the crushing effect of globalization on its bottom line.

Because large firms depend on its clients' ability to pay without regard to the outcome of the case, the value rendered by the firm, or the logic of paying $1,000 per hour, these excesses didn't register until all the money was gone, leaving companies to explain to shareholders why they allowed lawyers to charge $700 dinners against bottomless expense accounts. But as companies return to profitability, global law firms will return to business as usual. Experts agree it could happen in as little as three more years.

No, That's Still Not the Right Tone

Maybe it's not what I'm saying but the way I'm saying it.

There's no magic formula for practicing law, and no magic at all in being a small firm attorney. It has always been about hard work and sacrifice. But today we have a chance to eat the lunch of our large firm counterparts. Why? Because people need lawyers more than ever. It's just that they have less ability to pay.

We small firm managing partners must meet our target market half-way. Squeeze out all the productivity and efficiency, and when possible reduce fees — if only temporarily — to acknowledge the reality of our times. This strategy requires keeping costs low, reevaluating spending and hiring choices, outsourcing as many nonessential functions as possible (without sacrificing quality), and most of all ridding ourselves of distractions so we can focus on practicing law.

Start with these three steps:

1. Jettison Excess Overhead

When in doubt, rent. Rent equipment, rent space, outsource tasks, employ independent contractors, whatever. And the shorter the term of that relationship, the better. Unless you host clients on a regular basis, why buy the image? If anyone asks, tell them that you'll pass the savings onto them.

2. Manage Your Practice on the Web

Put your practice on the Web using a secure SaaS provider such as Clio and get back to business. After that, think about using online marketing tools, many of which cost nothing but your time.

3. Buy What you Need

You will be assaulted by smooth talking sales types who push you to buy more than you need. Your defense? Don't shop alone. Run decisions by someone who won't be dazzled. Whether it's litigation software or an Internet connection, get consensus up-front. For example, I decide what we need at the office, but my wife tells me what we can afford. That's a working relationship.

United We Stand, but Is Division Our Destiny?

With the economy in free-fall, now is not the time to be divisive. Solos and small firms should cooperate to ensure mutual benefit. If my SmallLaw columns sometimes appear critical of my fellow small firm attorneys it's not from a lack of respect. Quite the opposite. I'm just as hard on myself because I know we can all do better.

And more than that — I know the legal market belongs to small firms and sole practitioners. If only we could see that. We don't need phony volunteerism, bar association politics, or more overgrown law firms. We simply need to communicate and share our best practices with one another. But I fear that may never happen. And I think that's a shame.

Written by Mazyar M. Hedayat of M. Hedayat & Associates, P.C.

How to Receive SmallLaw
Small firm, big dreams. Published first via email newsletter and later here on our blog, SmallLaw provides you with a mix of practical advice that you can use today, and insight about what it will take for small law firms like yours to thrive in the future. The SmallLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Originally published on October 12, 2009 in our free BigLaw newsletter.

Law firms today are kinder, gentler places to work. Or at least they aspire to be. Many have diversity initiatives, or regularly stage events designed to promote harmonious relationships between employees. Most plan outings or gatherings intended to promote "team building," and strengthen the bonds between those who work long hours together in tight quarters, and probably spend at least some of those hours fantasizing about the pie they'd like to throw in a co-worker's face.

Nella, a senior associate at a large urban law firm, recently sat through one such event — a seminar on "managing conflict in the workplace." But, although she tried to take it all in, "engage" with the material, and learn something from the presentation, she found her mind wandering.

"My firm puts these things on all the time," she says, a note of boredom creeping into her voice. "After a while, they're all the same. You sit around, holding hands and singing 'Kumbaya,' but …" She pauses, and then sums up what may be the fatal shortcoming of such efforts. "At the end of the day, you still work at a law firm."

The seminar on resolving office conflicts is but one of the programs Nella has attended recently. Like many others, her firm devotes considerable time and attention to scrutinizing and, ostensibly, attempting to improve, workplace dynamics and "quality of life." The firm tries to address work-life balance, iencourages its employees to exercise and get flu shots and tries to promote harmonious workplace collaboration between attorneys and staff.

Given These Worthy Pursuits, Why So Cynical?

While these efforts are commendable, the problem, according to Nella, is that, when a huge filing is looming or a project hits an unexpected bump in the road, "conflict management" skills and well-intentioned "team building" fall by the wayside. Stress takes over, and the focus shifts to getting the document out, redoing the exhibits that should have been done right the first time, or editing the brief that, at the 11th hour, still doesn't look the way it should.

For example, she says, shortly after she attended the conflict management seminar, one of the secretaries in her office had a "minor meltdown" occasioned by the looming deadline for submitting various documents in a multi-district litigation. It was a Friday afternoon, Nella recalls, and the secretary announced, in a panic, that she couldn't prepare all the documents by herself. "You can't leave!" she told Nella. "I haven't finished putting everything together!"

"There were a few problems," explains Nella tactfully. "For one thing, the documents in question were cover letters, forms, and other items she was supposed to have done earlier. They were her responsibility, and she simply hadn't done her job. Second, this particular secretary worked for an important partner." What could Nella do? "My main concern," she says, "was making sure that she didn't go to the partner and complain - even though I knew I hadn't done anything wrong. It was just a headache that I didn't need." So what did Nella do? "I snapped at her, but then I sat there by her side, staying late on a Friday, and helped her complete the task."

"So much for effective communication and problem-solving," she adds. "When you're under a deadline and a co-worker — who may have a partner's ear — is freaking out, it's all about damage control."

Phooey on Feel Good?

Given her experience, does Nella think that initiatives designed to foster workplace warmth and encourage a "Go Team!" attitude are worthless?

"Well," she muses, "sometimes I resent having to sit through these things, knowing all the while that I have work to do and hours to bill … and that there probably isn't going to be a productive payoff. But, I suppose, if they make one person feel as though they have more of a voice, and that their concerns are important, then it's a net gain."

Nella warns, however, that this feeling is usually illusory. "We may work in a fairly genteel environment," she says, "but we still work for 'the Man.' It's nice to believe that we're engaged in a collaborative endeavor, and that your feelings and input are valued, but at the end of the day the imperatives of the task at hand trump all of that."

She summarizes her view with an analogy. "It's like Santa Claus and Christmas spirit" she explains. "We all want to believe so we let ourselves get carried away. You decorate your tree, wait for Santa to come, and lose yourself in the spirit of the season … but you can't lose sight of reality. At the end of the day, you'll have a lot of cleanup to do, and a giant credit card bill to pay."

How to Receive BigLaw
Many large firms have good reputations for their work and bad reputations as places to work. Why? Published first via email newsletter and later here on our blog, BigLaw goes deep undercover inside some of the country's biggest law firms. But we don't just dish up the dirt. We also mine it for best and worst practices and other nuggets of knowledge. The BigLaw newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.

Coming today to Fat Friday: Steven Levy discusses accounting considerations for locally installed software versus SaaS (software in the cloud), Harold Goldner explains how blogging has boosted his practice, John Starkweather discusses when to hire consultants and when to do it yourself, Thomas Hutto shares helpful information about Clio's data escrow policy, and Craig Bayer compares LogMeIn free to LogMeIn Rescue. Don't miss this issue.

How to Receive Fat Friday
Our most serendipitous offering, Fat Friday consists of unsolicited contributions by TechnoLawyer members. You'll no doubt enjoy it because of its mix of interesting topics and genuinely useful knowledge, including brutally honest product reviews and informative how-tos. The Fat Friday newsletter is free so don't miss the next issue. Please subscribe now.